R.A. 10533 is an “Act Enhancing the
Philippine Basic Education System by Strengthening its Curriculum and
Increasing the Number of Years for Basic Education, Appropriating Funds
Therefor and for Other Purposes,” this
act has been approved by Pres. Aquino last May 15, 2013 and it took effect on the
following month, June 8, 2013. After reading this act, I have learned that this
actually dealt on the implementation of the “K to 12”to upgrade Philippine
education whose quality has deteriorated in recent decades and improve national
competitiveness and also in order to make up for the shortcomings of the
Philippine’s 10 years of basic education cycle by adding three more years in
the curriculum thus making kindergarten compulsory and adding another two more
years in the former basic education which was 6 years of elementary education
and 4 years of secondary education with the vision of providing students ample
time to acquire knowledge and skills.
When I first heard about this act, I thought
it would be a burden especially for parents like us because adding more years
to the length of education of our children would also mean prolonging our obligation
to provide and finance their education. Aside from that, I used to have the
thinking that there was nothing wrong with the former number of years in school
and that if we want to improve the learning of the students, then we must
improve the quality of teaching rather than its quantity. But after having read
more about the act, I have learned that the government ensures that poverty and
other problems will not keep us parents from sending our children to school,
and through further reading I somehow come to realize that as a teacher, this
is actually a better way to truly prepare our students for their future work
because this act intends to implement a program in our education that is rooted
on sound education principles and geared towards excellence, it is in some way
designed to equip our students to compete and work globally which for me is
very agreeable since most of our students work abroad after they graduate so I
think it is just right to prepare them for it, and in addition to that, it will
also try to develop productive and responsible citizens equipped with the
essential competencies, skills and values for both life-long learning and
employment.
Another provocative issue about RA 10533 is the mandating
of the use of the mother language or first language learned by the child as the
medium of instruction. Since the said act adheres to make the curriculum a
learner-centered, it will try to create a learning setting that is designed to
make the students understand and grasp the ideas taught in the easiest possible
way. As a teacher in a place where every students speak the same native
language it would be easy for us to apply this mode of teaching but how about
those in areas where students speak different native languages? So with that,
it will in a way create confusion on the part of both the teacher and the
students.
One of the beneficial things about the implementation of
this act is that it will prepare students to pursue either vocational courses,
which offer quick employment opportunities, or regular college courses. The
government through this program can fine-tune the program to reduce the current
mismatch between skills and job requirements in many industries both local and
national.
Finally, as a parent and a teacher at the same time, I
believe that this act is very favourable because if this will be carried out and
implemented accordingly, then, our country will be able to produce skilled workers
and professionals who will generate more income and that would be advantageous
to our country’s economy as a whole and with that it may lessen our county’s
number one problem which is poverty.
